Lohan blames Clare board for deficiencies on logistical issues

FORMER Clare All-Ireland winning All Star full-back Brian Lohan has queried the role played by county board delegates and suggested that access to pitches and logistical issues were problems faced by the Clare minor hurling management team in 2009.

It was revealed at the November meeting of the Clare County Board that the Shannon man would not be part of the minor management team in 2010. “What I have gone on record as saying before is that the biggest problem I found being involved with the county minor team was the availability of pitches. We just couldn’t get fields,” the Shannon man told the Clare Champion.

“If it wasn’t for St Flannan’s and the help we got from the Newmarket club and from Clarecastle, we’d have had nowhere to train.

“It’s very hard to get your team right and to make sure that the coaching is done right and the players are not getting bored, without having to worry about logistical things like pitches, organising buses and organising meals.”

Stressing he had nothing but admiration for the 2009 minor panel and management team, Lohan maintained off field organisational issues, should be handled by the county board.

“All that (logistics) should be taken away from the coaches or the managers of the team and it should be done for you. I felt this year, that was a major problem that we had.

We had no problem whatsoever in relation to the players, a brilliant bunch of guys, really top-class guys, enthusiastic, very professional and ambitious guys. Where we were let down at bit was in relation to the whole logistics area and organisational side,” he pointed out.

Meanwhile, the Clare County Board last night voted to support the framework document which should result in the Gaelic Players Association (GPA) operating under the wing of the GAA.

* Monaghan will also be voting in favour of the proposed GPA/GAA agreement after the clubs voted unanimously at a special county committee meeting to back the key principles that will underpin the agreement on recognition between the GAA and the GPA.

Meanwhile, Wicklow GAA has mandated its Central Council representative Mick O’Hagan to vote in favour of the deal hammered out by Croke Park with the GPA at tomorrow’s meeting in Croke Park.

Club delegates decided to back the deal with the GPA without the necessity of taking a vote at a County Board meeting.